Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge
Michael Clark and Capt. Wayne Crisco–Team Last Resort–with the 5.11 lb. flounder and 5.86 lb. red drum that earned them over $3,200 in the Fisherman’s Post Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge, held May 31-June 1 out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
Scaling a 5.11 lb. flounder and a 5.86 lb. red drum to sweep both the primary leaderboard and all three TWT’s, Capt. Wayne Crisco and Michael Clark—Team Last Resort—earned first place and over $3,200 in the inaugural Fisherman’s Post Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge, held June 1 out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
The Hampstead anglers weren’t able to make time to pre-fish for the event, but as a Southport native, Crisco knows Brunswick County waters well.
“That was actually the first time I’d flounder fished all year,” he explained.
After launching at Holden Beach, Clark and Crisco netted some menhaden and fished some rocky structure for a few hours without a flatfish to show for it.
They’d moved to Shallotte Inlet to catch the tail end of the falling tide when Clark finally got their first flounder bite.
“We were casting in an 18’ hole there at the inlet,” Crisco explained, “and Clark got thumped.”
The bite came around 9:00 AM, and the angler allowed the fish plenty of time to consume his menhaden.
“When he bowed up on it,” continued Crisco, “I could see the head shakes, and I knew it was a good fish.”
The tide was still falling steadily in the inlet, and the flatfish used the current to its advantage.
“He buried up in that current,” the captain said, “and pulled drag several times. It really put up a heck of a fight; I thought it would be a 7-8 pounder.”
After several minutes of the give-and-take battle, Clark was finally able to work the flounder within range of Crisco’s waiting landing net, and the captain put the flatfish in the boat.
“I gave him a high-5,” he explained. “I thought that fish was only 4-4.5 lbs., but I knew it would put us on the board and we hadn’t seen any of the boats around us catch much.”
The anglers continued pounding the spot through the tide change with nothing else to show for it, and then headed to Lockwood Folly without any luck there.
“We started knocking docks as hard as we could after that,” Crisco said, “and finally went to Shallotte Point. We got down to 30 minutes left and found the prettiest dock in there—it was off the channel but had a shell bank that dropped off real quick to 20’ of water.”
While Crisco anchored the boat, Clark began casting, and he soon proved the dock’s potential.
“I was still letting the anchor out when Clark hooked that red,” reported Crisco.
This fish also proved to be a tough one, making a number of runs and nearly parting the line on the dock’s pilings before boiling into view on the surface.
“When I saw that fish come up, I knew it was the one we wanted,” Crisco continued.
Again, the angler patiently worked the fish to the waiting landing net, and Team Last Resort had their red drum. They fished the dock for another 20 minutes, landing another dozen red drum, but their first fish was their biggest. At the scales, both the flatfish and red slid by their nearest competition by less than a tenth of a pound, securing Team Last Resort the win and the big check.
Team Penny Pincher, made of up Joe Zurad, Paul Maraglia, and Penny Sue Spohn, hauled a 5.07 lb. flatfish to the scales to earn second place overall in the event, in addition to Top Senior Angler and Top Lady A
Paul Maraglia, Penny Sue Spohn, and Joe Zurad with the 5.07 lb. flounder that earned them second place overall (and Top Lady Angler Honors for Spohn) in the Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge. Maraglia caught the big flatfish after it fell for a live mud minnow near Sunset Beach.
gler Honors.
The anglers had fished several times in the week leading up to the event and knew where they wanted to be on the morning of competition.
“We knew where we were going to fish the falling tide, the change, and the rise,” Zurad said.
Their gameplan worked out early, as Maraglia hooked their money-winning fish around 7:30 in the morning.
“That fish actually bit a shrimp,” Zurad explained. “I was surprised because we had live mud minnows, Gulp baits, and a 6” eel out, too, but it ate a shrimp.”
Maraglia had a battle on his hands, as the fish took line, then circled beneath the boat time and time again before finally working it into range of Zurad’s net.
“We were jumping up and down in the boat at that point,” Zurad said.
A 4.95 lb. flatfish secured third place and second in the Flounder and High Roller Flounder TWT’s for Team Total Liability—Capt. Rob Koraly, Adam Meyer, and Ryan White.
The trio fished hard for several hours before White hooked their big fish on a live tiger-side minnow cast to an oyster point in the marsh near the mouth of the Shallotte River.
“We knew that was a good fish,” Koraly said. “It pulled drag several times, and when we got it out away from the marsh, I could see the hook barely hanging on the outside of its jaw. When we finally netted it, I pushed the hook right out with my finger.”
Jacob Starnes took advantage of a 3.95 lb. flounder to take home the Top Junior Angler bounty in the event.
For more information on the Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge and the rest of the events in the Fisherman’s Post Inshore Tournament Trail, along with a full leaderboard, visit fishermanspost.com.
